Book Review: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

'Slaughterhouse Five' is a semi autobiographical account of Kurt Vonnegut's life as a Prisoner of War in Dresden when it was fire bombed. The book follows the life and times and travails of Billy Pilgrim, an unlikely protagonist, who goes from optometrist to soldier and back to optometrist again.

Poignant and funny in parts, the book was readable. I especially liked Vonnegut's irreverent nonchalance towards major events - built in to mirror the irreverent nonchalance of the Second World War: killing and maiming thousands here but leaving there a particular block of houses untouched somehow. The book is proclaimed a classic but there are several other far more poignant and bittersweet World War books than 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

Had I perhaps not read 'The Book Thief' or Primo Levi's beautiful 'Survival in Auschwitz', I might have loved this book more. 'Slaughterhouse-Five' simply pales in comparison.